The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Modern crop farms must periodically apply agricultural products such as pesticides and/or fertilizers to ensure proper nutrition and a satisfactory crop growth rate and production. Although there are many ways to apply such products, it is universally agreed that the most efficient way is to do so from an elevated position, a process known as crop dusting.
To this end, there are many agricultural aerial application services which utilize a manned aircraft that is specially equipped with a liquid storage tank and sprayer system. Although useful for spraying tens or hundreds of acres at once, the large airspace requirements and relatively high costs are not conducive to smaller farms having only a few acres.
An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is a heavier-than-air flying machine that does not carry a human operator. UAV's are remotely operated, and are utilized for many different military and civilian applications such as reconnaissance, surveillance, area mapping, and/or photography, for example.
Traditionally, the use and implementation of small vertical takeoff and landing UAV's was limited to hobbyists and/or photographic usage, owing to the lightweight construction and minimum engine/lifting capacity of the same. However, recent advancements in micro engine technology have seen the introduction of heavy-lift UAV's capable of lifting hundreds of pounds for sustained periods of time.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a modular sprayer system for heavy-lift unmanned aerial vehicles which can be utilized to perform agricultural aerial application services in instances where traditional methods are unsuitable or cost prohibitive.